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Google is blocking AI searches for Trump and dementia

by admin October 1, 2025

Google appears to have blocked AI search results for the query “does trump show signs of dementia” as well as other questions about his mental acuity, even though it will show AI results for similar searches about other presidents.

When making the search about President Trump, AI Overviews will display a message that says, “An AI Overview is not available for this search”:

Go directly to AI Mode, and you’ll only receive a list of 10 web results instead of a summarized page of information:

Similar searches about Trump are limited in the same way. Various queries about dementia, Alzheimer’s, and senility display no AI overview and only produce a list of links inside AI Mode.

Google’s behavior is inconsistent if you swap in different names. When asking “does biden show signs of dementia”, Google doesn’t show an AI Overview at all:

But in AI Mode, it will offer a summarized response. When I searched for it, the response started with, “It’s not possible to definitively state whether former President Joe Biden has dementia based solely on publicly available information.”

Google also displayed AI overviews for queries about Biden and Alzheimer’s, stating there is “no clinical diagnosis or public proof that former President Joe Biden has Alzheimer’s disease.”

This is all different from what you get when using the names of other public figures or recent presidents. Use Obama’s name instead, and you’ll get an AI Overview — when I searched, it said that “No public evidence or statements from medical professionals indicate that former President Barack Obama has dementia”:

I got a similar result while searching about Obama in AI Mode:

There’s been a lot of coverage of the mental acuity of both President Trump and President Biden, who are the two oldest presidents ever, so it’s reasonable to expect that people might query Google about it. The company may be worried about accurately presenting information on a sensitive subject, as AI overviews remain susceptible to delivering incorrect information. But in this case, it may also be worried about the president’s response to such information. Google agreed this week to pay $24.5 million to settle a highly questionable lawsuit about Trump’s account being banned from YouTube.

Google spokesperson Davis Thompson didn’t say why AI overviews weren’t triggered for these queries when asked by The Verge. “As we’ve said, AI Overviews and AI Mode won’t show a response to every query.” Thompson also pointed to a document that explains how AI Overviews may not show for every query and that AI Mode may choose to show links instead of generating a response.

Update, September 30th: Added response from Google.

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October 1, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Steam is now blocking NSFW updates for published adult-only games, according to a raunchy RPG developer

by admin September 19, 2025

The great ‘dematuring’ of videogames continues with reports that Valve are now forbidding “post-launch NSFW content” for games on Steam, even those that are already “adult-only”. That’s according to Crimson Delight Games, the developers of fantasy RPG Tales of Legendary Lust: Aphrodisia. They launched it on September 15th with adult content warnings, after submitting it to Valve’s review process in August, and had planned to add sexy scenes through updates while working on a big DLC expansion for 2026.

These updates are not going to happen anymore, apparently because everybody’s favourite PG-rated cartoon villains, global payment networks, are putting pressure on Valve. Instead, the updates will need to be submitted as proper official DLC so that Valve can give them a formal review.

This will likely mean more work for the devs and potentially, release delays, compared to the relative ease of publishing an update or patch – as Valve explain in their FAQ, “Steam makes it easy to patch your game or add content at any time that you need to in order to best serve your audience on your schedule”.

“We were told all new adult content for our game has to go through DLC, presumably so it can be reviewed and approved,” the developers wrote in response to a Reddit post about the situation this week. We don’t know the inner workings of Valve / Steam, but we’re in a couple of NSFW dev communities and these new rules weren’t in place before the Collective Shout uproar and subsequent payment processors’ censorship.”

If you’re new to Collective Shout, they’re an Australian activist group who campaign against “the objectification of women and sexualisation of girls in media, advertising and popular culture”, and are also affiliated with conservative groups who campaign against sex work and pornography at large.

Back in July, Collective Shout claimed credit for stampeding Mastercard, Visa and other payment processing companies and networks into forbidding the transaction of a vast number of sexually themed or otherwise “NSFW” adult games on Steam and Itch, including a lot of games from queer developers. Collective Shout have yet to properly explain which individual games they consider unfit for sale and why.

Steam and Itch have now changed their policies to give the payment networks some control over what counts as acceptable “adult” material. They have also delisted or removed a lot of games, with Itch electing to seek out new payment partners while revising their catalogue. Valve are reportedly denying the release of “mature” games under Steam early access, possibly because (to echo Crimson Delight’s point above) the platform holder needs to be able to review the finished work before approving it for sale. I say ‘reportedly’ and ‘possibly’ because Valve still haven’t made a formal comment on these recent events. I’ll ask them again now.

In the Reddit thread about the rejected NSFW updates, Crimson Delight have only good things to say about Valve’s handling of the situation. “I have to say the reviewer was kind and forthcoming, we didn’t feel threatened or bullied in any way, and we got the feeling they were trying to do their best to help devs navigate the process,” developer Frenzin writes. “But the fact of the matter is that Valve has payment processors breathing down their neck, and the rules keep getting stricter as time goes on.”

“Valve isn’t the problem here,” Frenzin continues. “The big credit card companies are. If anything, Valve has stood up to them and pushed back. They could’ve simply nuked the 18+ section of Steam, but they didn’t, they stuck up for developers. Obviously adult games make Valve money, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of Steam’s catalogue. Silksong itself probably earned Valve more than most NSFW titles put together.

“Given that we’re erogame devs, we’re against any sort of censorship (as long as the content isn’t sexualizing minors or nonconsensual in any way),” the developer comments. “But it’s important to understand where the real problem lies, and it’s not with Valve.”

My very Lukewarm Take regarding the on-going NSFW/mature game crackdown is that people should be allowed to get their rocks off to whatever responsibly created fictitious media they choose in the absence of evidence that they are doing harm, and large finance corporations with no actual mandate to serve the public interest shouldn’t play the part of moral sentinel.

I’d flesh that argument out with reference to Tales of Legendary Lust, but my efforts are hindered by the UK’s new Online Safety Act, which requires me to verify my age to visit the game’s Steam page and visit the developer’s subreddit (thanks to Automaton for being the messenger). I don’t have a credit card for Steam verification, and Reddit’s camera age verification widget seems to think that my age defies categorisation. Which, you know, fair dos. You can find a SFW version of the game on Itch, though.

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September 19, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Valve appear to be blocking mature themed games from Steam early access release

by admin September 13, 2025

For a week or so now, we’ve heard rumblings that Valve are preventing the creators of games with “mature themes” from releasing their games in Steam early access. At least two developers have disclosed that they’re affected – Dammitbird, creators of raunchy fantasy RPG Heavy Hearts (do not click unless you are happy to look at a werewolf’s penis), and Blue Fairy Media, creators of The Restoration of Aphrodisia (do not click unless you are happy to read about lewd transformations).

Dammitbird have screencapped and shared a message from Steam’s submissions team, via Ana Valens on Bluesky. It reads: “Your app has failed our review because we’re unable to support the Early Access model of development for a game with mature themes. Please resubmit when your app is ready to launch without Early Access.”

The Blue Fairy Media folks have posted about a similar rejection message, adding “we can confirm our title was hit by this as well after multiple weeks of back and forth in the review process with absolutely no mention of this policy prior.”

Whether this is a new policy from Valve remains a little unclear. The platform holder’s early access submission documentation doesn’t make any stipulations about “mature themes” at the time of writing, and there are mature-themed early access games currently in development, which suggests it’s a recent shift of direction. On the other hand, one adult game developer, Drooskati, has posted screens of a comparable rejection message from June 2024.

Valve have yet to reply to my request for comment, sent about 10 days ago. Assuming they are now prohibiting mature-themed games from early access, all this is probably a continuation of the industry-wide crackdown on sexually themed or explicit videogames, instigated by payment processing networks earlier in the year.

This summer, Valve changed Steam’s rules to give banks, payment processors and card companies a say on what constitutes acceptable NSFW material. Then, they delisted a bunch of games. According to Valve, it was either that or risk payment processing partners blocking Steam transactions at large.

Itch.io have also been affected by the payment processor ban on “mature themes”. The indie store delisted thousands of games in July, and are now seeking out new payment processing partners who are happy to deal in adult material.

The situation has been clouded by the refusal of various participants to take responsibility for the delistings and removals. In August, Mastercard insisted that they have “not evaluated any game or required any restrictions” on Steam, while Valve contend that payment processors have told the platform holder they’re acting to ensure compliance with Mastercard’s policies.

I had a go at explaining the broad strokes of how payment networks police the definition of acceptable sex in videogames last month. The short version is that payment networks often end up being enlisted as unofficial enforcers of laws and taboos around sexual material, by dint of their control of economic activity. They are horribly ill-equipped to serve this purpose, however, because they are corporations with brands to protect. If a sufficiently large or vocal group can make a fuss about the transaction of any particular type of commodity, the corps may feel compelled to pull support.

The enforced policy changes on Steam and Itch.io appear to reflect a new reactionary campaign against sexual themes or material in art or entertainment, and especially queer art deemed abhorrent by conservatives. The Australian lobby group Collective Shout have claimed credit for bringing about Steam’s policy changes by applying public pressure to Mastercard, Visa and others. They published an open letter in July co-signed by two religious anti-porn and anti-sex work organisations, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation and Exodus Cry.

Collective Shout and their affiliates have said that they’re campaigning against representations of sexual violence and objectification that could contribute to violence towards women and girls. They have yet to provide details of the individual games they find disagreeable, however, or demonstrate how they are or might be harmful.

In the meantime, a large number of developers have been deprived of a livelihood. Eurogamer recently published a feature based on interviews with several of the queer developers affected that is worth a read. I’ll let you know as and when Valve update us on their early access policies.

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September 13, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Trump’s Crypto ‘Conflicts of Interest’ Are ‘Blocking’ Dem Legislation Support, Top Lawmaker Says

by admin August 21, 2025

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — Despite growing bipartisan efforts to bring clear regulation to the digital asset industry, one main issue that stands in the way of passing legislation in the U.S. is President Donald Trump and his family’s actions in the sector, according to Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.)

“It’s no secret that my side of the aisle would prefer not to see any sitting President — I won’t name one — participating in this market while a sitting president unless those assets are in a sealed trust,” Craig said on stage at the SALT conference in Jackson Hole on Wednesday.

Trump, as well as his family, particularly Eric Trump, who was present at the venue during Craig’s appearance, have both built businesses in the industry, particularly since Trump retook office this past January.

Trump has issued several meme coins tied to his name and his social media platform, Truth Social, has applied for several exchange-traded funds. Eric Trump co-founded American Bitcoin, a mining company owned by Hut 8.

Craig, who was joined by Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wi.), spoke on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act which the House passed with a massive bipartisan vote last month. The Senate Banking Committee is working on its own version of crypto market structure legislation.

While the majority of Republicans are in favor of the bill, many Democrats remain skeptical, and a big reason for that is the Trump family’s involvement in the industry, Craig said.

“The elephant in the room here is the President’s family’s participation in this marketplace and that’s a stumbling block to get more Democrats to support the legislation,” she said.

Craig said that while there is some language in the legislation that limits this conflict of interest, a stronger tone is needed to convince some lawmakers.

“If we could find some language that would allow or prevent conflicts of interest to occur, from our perspective, I think you would see a whole lot more Democrats support it,” she said.

Craig is the ranking member on the House Agriculture Committee, meaning she is the leading Democrat on that committee. This isn’t the first time she’s referenced the Trump family’s crypto tie-ups — during a committee hearing in June on the Clarity Act, she said his crypto actions were “making this debate more difficult” and suggested that Congress should add restrictions on how the U.S. president can trade in markets overseen by the CFTC, including crypto.

Despite her comments, Craig still voted to advance the Clarity Act without any such language being added.

Join the crypto policy conversation Sept. 10 in D.C. — Register now for CoinDesk: Policy & Regulation.

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August 21, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

The U.S. is blocking state AI regulation. Here’s what that means for every business

by admin August 18, 2025

Congress didn’t just reshape tax codes with the “One Big Beautiful” bill; it also quietly reshaped the future of artificial intelligence. A lesser-known provision of the sweeping legislation is now on its way to becoming law: a 10-year freeze on state-level AI regulation.

In other words, no individual state can pass rules that govern how businesses develop or use AI systems. The message is clear for companies rushing to embed AI in daily operations: govern yourselves or risk learning the hard way why guardrails matter.

Nichole Windholz

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AI isn’t a side project anymore. It’s already embedded in cybersecurity platforms, CRMs, internal chat tools, reporting dashboards and customer-facing products. Even mid-size organizations are training AI models on proprietary data to speed up everything from supplier selection to contract analysis.

Without guardrails, AI can drift; fast

AI models aren’t static. Once deployed, they learn from new data, interact with systems and influence decision-making. That’s powerful but also unpredictable.

Left unchecked, an AI-driven forecasting tool might rely too heavily on outdated patterns, causing overproduction or supply chain bottlenecks. A chatbot designed to streamline customer service could unintentionally generate biased or off-brand responses.

Meanwhile, generative models trained on sensitive business documents can inadvertently expose proprietary information in future prompts. For example, a study released in January 2025 found that nearly 1 in 10 prompts used by business users when interacting with generative AI (GenAI) tools could inadvertently disclose sensitive data.

These aren’t abstract dangers; they’ve already appeared in public incidents. But it’s not just PR damage that’s at stake. AI errors can affect revenue, data security and even legal exposure. The absence of regulatory pressure doesn’t make these issues go away – it makes them easier to miss until they’re too big to ignore.

The smart play is internal governance: before you need it

Organizations are eager to integrate GenAI, with many teams already using these powerful tools in daily operations. This rapid adoption means that just passively monitoring things isn’t enough; a strong governance structure is crucial, one that can adapt as AI becomes more central to the business.

Setting up an internal AI governance council, ideally with leaders from IT, security, compliance and operations, offers that vital framework. This council isn’t there to stop innovation. Its job is to bring clarity. It typically reviews AI tools before they’re rolled out, sets clear usage policies and works with teams so they fully understand the benefits and limits of the AI they’re using.

This approach reduces unauthorized tool usage, makes auditing more efficient and helps leadership steer AI strategy with confidence. However, for governance to be effective, it must be integrated into broader enterprise systems, not siloed in spreadsheets or informal chats.

GRC platforms can anchor AI governance

Governance, risk and compliance (GRC) platforms already help businesses manage third-party risk, policy enforcement, incident response and internal audits. They’re now emerging as critical infrastructure for AI governance as well.

By centralizing policies, approvals and audit trails, GRC platforms help organizations track where AI is being used, which data sources are feeding it, and how outputs are monitored over time. They also create a transparent, repeatable process for teams to propose, evaluate and deploy AI tools with oversight so innovation doesn’t become improvisation.

Don’t count on vendors to handle it for you

Many tools advertise AI features with a sense of built-in safety, which includes privacy settings, explainable models and compliance-ready dashboards. But too often, the details are left up to the user.

If a vendor-trained model fails, your team will likely bear the operational and reputational costs. Businesses can’t afford to treat third-party AI as “set and forget.” Even licensed tools must be governed internally, especially if they’re learning from company data or making process-critical decisions.

The bottom line

With the U.S. blocking states from setting their own rules, many assumed federal regulation would follow quickly. However, the reality is more complicated. Draft legislation exists, but timelines are fuzzy, and political support is mixed.

In the meantime, every organization using AI is effectively writing its own rulebook. That’s a challenge and an opportunity, especially for companies that want to build trust, avoid missteps and confidently lead.

The organizations that define their governance now will have fewer fire drills later. They’ll also be better prepared for whatever federal rules eventually arrive because their internal structure won’t need a last-minute overhaul.

Because whether or not rules are enforced externally, your business still depends on getting AI right.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro’s Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

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August 18, 2025 0 comments